The World Collapses
by Miss C. Watson
Summary: The future of the beloved pirate haven Tortuga is threatened when both the French and English nations vie for its control. Terrified for the island's future, the governor's wife appeals to the pirate lords for help.


**The World Collapses**

**Chapter One: Dearly Departed**

Tortuga

With the early morning sun rising in the east came a light rain from the hills to the northwest. It was the kind of rain that tapped on the window panes and dripped from the eaves in a soothing percussion ensemble. It was the kind of rain that bid everyone to sleep away the morning, sleep until the sins of the previous night were washed from the streets and made fresh for a new day of revelry.

And sleep they did. Even the ambiguously appointed Governor of Tortuga, Henry Hemsley, opted to spend the morning in the bedroom of his decrepit manor house laying next to his wife, thoroughly neglecting his duties in favor of simply staring at her beautiful, naked body asleep under the thin sheets. Who wouldn't, if they were in his place, thought Henry as he admired the way her tanned skin glowed against the stark white of the bed linens. A soft breeze came through the open doors of the balcony and stirred the curls framing her face, soft brown and highlighted from the sun and sea. As if she could feel his gaze upon her, she cracked open her eyes and looked back. Oh those eyes! They were the exact color of the shallow waters around their little island, and they happened to be the part of Annalee that Henry fell in love with first.

"Good morning," she said with a slightly husky voice still half asleep.

"It is a very good morning, my love," the governor responded in a playful tone. Annalee turned in place to get a better look at her husband and the twinkle in his eye she knew was there, but as she did so the sheet slipped down to her stomach, leaving everything above exposed. Henry smirked even broader and said, "And the day keeps on improving."

He brought his fingers down to trace along her skin and began to initiate the sweet ministrations that would ultimately lead to a magnificent morning. Annalee melted under his touch, but tensed ever-so-slightly when he brought his lips to her collarbone.

"Henry," she said softly, trying very hard to keep her breathing steady, "There is something I must tell you." There was a murmur of protest against her neck, but she continued anyway. "I am leaving for New Orleans today."

He stopped only long enough to frown at her. The rest of the conversation was rushed out between kisses. "But..... why did.... you..... not tell me.... until now?"

"Because I did not –oh.... want you to make a big fuss."

"My lady," Henry said, looking very serious for a moment, "I never make a big fuss over anything."

Annalee half giggled and half moaned in response as his tongue recaptured her breasts and his hand slid down under the sheets. "Henry darling, the last time I told you I was going on a trip, you had my ship commandeered and hidden."

"That is because if I let you leave, then some younger, handsomer gentleman would steal you away. Then I would have to throw myself into the sea for grief of losing my cherished Annalee." With the practiced agility and grace of a man half his age, Henry pulled Annalee under him to her immense delight. She pulled his head down to hers and whispered in his ear, "My dear, any other man wouldn't know what to do with me."

The governor laughed heartily at this and claimed his wife once more with kisses and caresses. "If you must leave today, then we shall make this morning unforgettable."

The rain continued to fall as the rest of Tortuga slept through the early hours of the morning, ignorant as always to the activities of their governor, the man who keeps their way of life a reality on their little haven of an island.

* * *

A few hours later, Henry and Annalee are in his office, making final preparations for her journey to New Orleans. Henry was watching his wife with a sadness most unbefitting his earlier temperament.

"I have instructed Mister Malacky to have my ship ready for sail by two," Annalee said while trying on several of her husband's plumed hats. "Which one do you think looks better on me, green or purple?"

"Green," Henry replied absentmindedly.

She put the tricorn hat on, and adjusted it in front of a mirror until the emerald plumes cascaded out to her liking. "How do I look?"

He looked hard at her, not bothering to hide the misery plastered on his face, and appraised her. His wife wore the finest clothes to come through the Caribbean, things he made sure she had whenever she could possibly have want of them. Over a new cotton bodice, she wore a silk corset embroidered with gold and skirts of striped taffeta. Her fingers bore the weight of the garish jewels she collected from him over the years, as did her ears with their gold rings. A hint of Tortuga came with the rapier at her left hip and the pistol at her right, both held in place by expensive leather belts over a sash of silk so fine you could see right through it. His hat perched on her head made her look like she could be the governor herself.

"My God, Annalee," said Henry, finally cracking a smile. "You look the very image of the bloodthirsty pirate the people back in Europe get stories of. A fitting ambassador from Tortuga, as it were."

"Ambassador? I was just going to visit my sister, Henry. But now I sense you have other duties for me as well." Annalee glanced at her husband with her eyes smiling, inviting him to say what he must, but he hesitated and dropped his gaze to the floor. After a few moments he said, "I wouldn't have asked this of you, but as it's a matter of urgency, and you're heading there anyways, I thought I could entrust you with it. It may very well be dangerous, and I'd hate to think of you--"

"My dear, just tell me what it is so that it may be done," Annalee said as she clasped her husband's hands in her own.

Henry sighed and nodded slowly. "I need you to speak with Jocard."

"Gentleman Jocard? The pirate lord? What on earth for?"

"I'd rather not sully your trip with bad news, my love, so I won't go into detail until you come back." At the look Annalee was giving him, Henry quickly added, "It's not urgent, and probably nothing at all. No harm being prepared for the worst is all."

Annalee was about to demand to know what he was on about, but he cut her off before she could begin speaking. "Here," he pulled out of his pocket a neat envelope bearing his seal and a heavy ring of beaten gold. "Give him the ring first, as a sign of goodwill, and then hand him the envelope on your way out of the meeting."

She took the items warily. "What am I supposed to talk about _during_ the meeting?"

"Oh, anything you fancy. Just don't waste his time or insult him. I hear Jocard is rather fond of cutting out tongues," Henry said with a smile. Annalee knew he was half-serious, however.

"Then why have the meeting at all?" she asked.

"Because it would be very rude to just come and go without so much as a 'how do you fare?' I am still the governor, after all, and it wouldn't do to have my envoys acting without even the slightest bit of social propriety."

Annalee put the letter and the ring into a small leather bag without another word on the matter, and then put the bag in her travel trunk. After a few minutes of rechecking her luggage, she looked at Henry with a small smile. "It's time for me to leave, my dear."

The governor took her in his arms and held her there for a few moments. Annalee knew he preferred their goodbye to be in the privacy of their home instead of at the docks. Henry was always an emotional wreck when it came to her departing. It was best to have him mope around the mansion than turn to the comfort of the numerous taverns scattered around the port.

Henry kissed his wife with all the energy he could muster, and she smiled into it before breaking apart and heading to the door. One of her crew, a tall man with fierce eyes and a wild beard, hoisted her truck onto his shoulder and followed her out of the office, down the stairs, and out the front door. Annalee was nearing the gate when when she heard Henry open the window and shout to her, "If you should happen to see the Black Pearl out at sea, bid her to come this way, will you?"

"Which captain?" She asked a valid question, for as everyone well knew, control of the infamous ship always shifted between the notorious Hector Barbossa and the flagrant Jack Sparrow.

"Either one, or both if possible!"

"Aye, governor!" Annalee saluted her husband and then blew him a kiss. Before turning back towards the sea, she noted with a twinge of unhappiness that his worried state brought his increasing age into sharp relief. His graying hair was quite visible even at this distance, and the beginnings of fine lines were etched across his face. As she turned to head towards the docks, she looked at her own hands, still as soft and smooth as they were when she was twenty. For one terrible second, Annalee felt the slight throb of regret, but quickly pushed it aside and looked upon the sea with sweet anticipation.


End file.
